Hello and Goodbye
by teamfreewill82
Summary: Hi, everyone, this is a fic set in the early time of Degrassi: The Next Generation, and is pretty much Sean/Emma.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or anything pertaining to it except my writing. **

This is just how I imagined the reunion between my fave couple, Sean and Emma. :) It's based about a year after _Degrassi_, s4ep9- _Back in Black_, by the way. I don't think I'm gonna dd anything to it, but I'll keep you posted okay? Feel free to leave ideas and comments! Thanks for reading, all.

The rain had long since stopped, the scent of it still in the air. He was home. The place he'd called home, at least, for those few years at Degrassi. He takes it in, how everything has changed, the wet concrete beneath his feet, of which he stares at now. He looks up, eyes squinted past the sunlight, his hand gripping the strap of his bag on his shoulder. The nerves make him antsy. He wanted to come back, but what if nobody wanted _him_? Had forgotten him, in the five months he'd been gone?

Degrassi is ahead, and he's glad that he hadn't driven his car. If he had, he'd have been there by now. He can already hear the chatter of his classmates, a new school year, though, despite what people were told relentlessly, not a fresh start. He knew all too well of the reputations one carried, and they didn't come off your back with the beginning school year. Life wouldn't ever be seen acting so forgiving.

He sees students he recognizes, but he can only manage a half smile at them while he continues on his way. They whisper to each other, curious and surprised. What was he doing back? Dropping out at the end of school the previous year had been strange, and they hadn't really thought he'd come back. And yet, he had, to the school where pain loomed around every corner. He, better than all of them, knew that. It was why he had left, to get away, to be with his parents. To be at his childhood home. But he'd grown up.

Up farther he can see a particular girl, familiar blonde curls tumbling down her back, longer than he remembered them from the last time he had seen her, sliding into a car to drive away from him. A clip sparkles on the back of her head, holding the light waves back. He thought they resembled ribbon, all shine and softness that you didn't have to touch to know of. Though he had.

He wants to call out. Should he? Would she recognize him? His hair had grown as well, in small curls that nearly reached his shoulders. He was taller, had worked out, was broader. She might take him for a stranger. He didn't know if he could handle it. "Em," he says, anyway. She turns at her name, her hair shifting on her shoulder. He can see her eyes narrow at him, but more in disbelief than confusion as to who he was. "Sean?" She says this quietly, but loud enough for him to hear. "Yeah. Hey, Em." Emma's eyes widen, and she launches herself at Sean. "Sean!" Her voice rings with shocked amazement, and he returns her hug tentatively, arms locking around her waist securely but carefully. "Hey," he says again. The people surrounding the two had looked over at Emma's outburst, but he didn't care.

Emma pulls back from Sean, mouth opening but no words coming out. She holds his shoulders for a moment, then drops her hands, staring. "What- I can't believe you're back! I haven't talked to you for, what, the entire summer?"

"I was busy, sorry," he says, adjusting his bag strap. "No, I know you were. How was that, anyway, with your parents? How are you?" He shrugs, wishing he could speak. Emma was somehow more beautiful than when he'd seen her last, all shining doe eyes and white smile. "It was good, actually. We talked a lot, and I'm doing… better." Emma smiles at him. "That's so great. I've, well, we've all missed you, Sean, we have. Especially Elllie," she adds. Sean's mouth opens, and he remembers his girlfriend. "How is she? Is she doing alright?" Emma nods. "Yeah, she's good. She is. Misses you, obviously, but that doesn't matter anymore because you're _back_." She's on the balls of her feet, and drops back down, as if deflated. "Are you staying for _good_, or…"

"I'm gonna visit my parents but I'm living here again. I missed Degrassi, weirdly, and you- all. I missed all of you guys here." Emma smiles at Sean again, and his lips turn up in response. "I missed you, Em."

Emma breathes out and pulls Sean to her, arms around his shoulders. "I missed you too." Abruptly she pushes him away, more like herself away from him, and says, "I guess you'd… better go find Ellie. She's gonna freak when she sees you." Sean sucks his slower lip into his mouth, nodding. "Right. Yeah." He smiles at the thought of his girlfriend, and nods again. "Yeah. I'd better go. See you later, then?" Emma nods, quickly, and waves him off. He holds his own hand up in a goodbye gesture, and heads off, leaving Emma to drop her hovering hand back to her side.


End file.
